BOSTON, Sep 22, 1999 (BW HealthWire) -- Diacrin scientists along with
doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have become the first
in the world to implant fetal pig brain cells into the brain of a
stroke patient. The collaborators hope that the fetal pig brain cells
will replace the cells that have died as a result of the stroke.
"We are excited about the possibilities that this therapy will provide
for stroke patients who otherwise would expect very little recovery.
Through this trial we hope to begin to understand how patients would
most benefit from cell therapy and what the risks might be," says Louis
Caplan, MD, BI-Deaconess neurologist and neurology professor at Harvard
Medical School.
Despite extensive rehabilitation efforts since her stroke four years
ago, the patient, 39, has not been able to regain enough use of her
left hand to return to her job as a dental hygienist in Saratoga
Springs, New York. This was the first patient treated as part of a
Phase 1 clinical trial that is being done by Diacrin in collaboration
with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The cells used in this trial are pretreated such that patients do not
need to take immunosuppressive medicine to prevent the patient's immune
system from rejecting the cells. This immunological pretreatment is
based on a patented technology exclusively licensed to Diacrin by
Massachusetts General Hospital.
"It's not a cure yet," says BI-Deaconess neurosurgeon-in-chief Julian
Wu, MD, who performed the xenograft. "But, it's exciting to consider
that this may be a beginning to treating strokes in the near-future."
"Considering the encouraging clinical results we have seen using cell
transplantation to treat Parkinson's disease patients and focal
epilepsy patients, and knowing the prevalence of stroke in our society,
we are very excited to begin this trial," said Thomas H. Fraser, PhD,
Diacrin president and CEO.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States,
ranking behind coronary artery disease and cancer. It is also the
leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S. Diacrin is targeting
patients who have had ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke is caused by
lack of blood flow to a region of the brain, causing neuronal cell
death. Initially the trial will focus on transplanting cells into areas
of cell death principally in the striatal region of the brain. The
striatum includes deep brain structures. Transplantation of porcine
fetal neural cells may repair the damaged neuronal circuitry caused by
the stroke. Animal studies have demonstrated the feasibility of
repairing and restoring function to the stroke damaged brain.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School and a founding member of CareGroup, an
integrated system of quality healthcare serving the individual, family,
and community.
Diacrin is developing transplantable cells for the treatment of human
diseases which are characterized by cell dysfunction or cell death and
for which current therapies are either inadequate or nonexistent.
Products under development for the treatment of neurological disorders
include: NeuroCell(TM)-PD for Parkinson's disease and NeuroCell(TM)-HD
for Huntington's disease, both of which are being developed in a joint
venture with Genzyme Corporation, NeuroCell(TM)-FE for focal epilepsy,
porcine neural cells for stroke and intractable pain and spinal cord
cells for spinal cord injury. Also under development are hepatocytes
for acute liver failure and for cirrhosis, myoblasts for cardiac
disease and retinal epithelial cells for macular degeneration.
